1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for damping tractive and compressive forces in the form of a safety device against shock loads constructed to operate regeneratively.
2. Description of the Related Art
From rail-borne vehicle engineering it is known for safety devices against shock loads, in the form of what are referred to as buffers for example, to be inserted between the bodies of the individual carriages or wagons of a multi-member train of vehicles. These are vehicle-mounted components which, in the event of a collision or an impact against a fixed obstacle, are intended to absorb energy and thus prevent damage to the vehicle or what it is carrying. Buffers exist principally on rail-borne vehicles, one or two usually being used on the parts of the structure mounted at the end-faces, their purpose being to absorb the horizontal compressive forces which act on the rail-borne vehicle from outside in the longitudinal direction thereof.
Following this principle, there are two types of buffer which can be used on rail-borne vehicles as safety devices against shock loads, namely so-called “central buffers” where the safety device against shock loads is mounted on the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, meaning that there is only one buffer, in the centre of the buffer beam, at each end of the vehicle. What are also known on the other hand are so-called “side buffers” where there are two buffers at the end of the rail-borne vehicle.
It is thus known from the field of rail-borne vehicle engineering for, in the case of a multi-member train of rail-borne vehicles, the bodies of the individual carriages or wagons to be equipped with so-called side buffers or UIC buffers when the bodies of the carriages or wagons are not connected together by a single bogie and the distance between the bodies of two carriages or wagons which are coupled together is thus able to vary when they are travelling along in operation. The purpose of these side buffers is to absorb and damp the shock loads which occur during normal travel at, for example, the time of braking or pulling away.
It is also known from the prior art for a safety device against shock loads in the form of a tractive/shock load arrangement to be built into a coupling bar which is used to transmit tractive and compressive forces between the bodies of two adjacent carriages or wagons of a multi-member train of vehicles. This tractive/shock load arrangement is designed to absorb and damp tractive and compressive forces of up to a defined size. It is for example conceivable in this case for there to be used as a tractive/shock load arrangement a resilient unit which can be loaded both in traction and in compression, to enable the tractive and compressive forces which occur in operation to be suitably damped in this way.